Driving mechanism



j 2- J. w. ALLEN 2,284,353

DRIVING MECHANISM Original Filed Nov. 16, 1955 INVENTOR. Jose of) 14 A//en jor object of the invention.

Patented May 2 6,, 1942 DRIVING IVIECHANISM Joseph W. Allen, EastOrange, N. J., assignor to Eclipse Aviation Corporation, East Orange,

N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Original application November 16,1935, Serial No.

Divided and this application December 16, 1939, Serial No. 309,672

1 Claim.

This invention. relates to clutch mechanism,

and particularly todriving mechanism of a selective engagementcharacter, wherein the transmission of torque may occur through oneorthe other of a plurality of sets of drivingelements, depending uponwhether or not a predetermined one of said sets is in the drivingposition.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel construction and methodof operation of such a driving mechanism. c

A second major object is to combine with such a driving mechanism andadditional yieldable clutch means enabling the motor to overrun thedriven element as soon as the latter reaches the limit of its travel.This is of special importance in'the actuation of aircraft landing gear,the improvement of which constitutes a third ma- These and other objectswill become apparent from inspection of the following specification whenread with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein is illustratedthe preferred embodiment of the invention. It is to be expresslyunderstood, however, that the-drawing is for the purpose of illustrationonly, and is" not designed as :3, definition of the limits. of theinvention, reference being had to the appended ,claim for this purpose.

In the drawing: a

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectionalview. of a device embodying theinvention; and

formed upon the hollow end of the shaft l5 (8) are beyond the reach ofthe correspondingly shaped teeth IS on the correspondingly boreden'd ofthe shaft 5. -The teeth of 'bevel gear, l4,lon the other hand, are fullymeshed at all' 'times with-those of the correspondingly shaped bevelpinion 2| which is show-n herein asbeing an integral extension of thedriving shaft 6, the ,outer end of which shaftis provided with/a pin 23or other suitable means serving for attachment of a sleeve 24 orother'manually operable instrumentality. a

A coiled compression spring 21 constantly bears magnetizable coreconstituted by the hollowishaft.

5. Such movement/results in a meshing of the teeth l8 with the teeth:l1, thereby establishing driving relationship between th'eshafts 5 and8. The left-hand end of the springzl rests against a collar or discwhich-engages the shoulder 42 of the relatively stationary sleeve 43constituting the inner race of a;friction disc clutch 44 consisting of apluralityof, inter-leaving friction plates splined alternately, to thesleeve, 43 and Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the electricalconnections.

In thei drawing reference characters 5 and 6 designate driving shaftsmounted at right angles to one another in a common housing I, the latterbeing capable of actuating the drivenshai't 8 at all times while theformer is capable of actuhousing-a motor or other actuating'means 'for.-

;dual dem 4 means for the driven shaft 8 i clude asolen'oidf,

the shaft 5.

The elements involved in the ating said shaft 8 under certain conditionsto" 'I3 and a bevel gear l4 her'ein s own as integral with the enlargedand centrally bored end I5 of the driven shaft 8 and so located withrespect'to the driving shafts 5 and 6 that it is capable of' receivingrotation from either of said shafts, although the shaft 5 is normallywithdrawn from operative relation to the shaft 8 in that it normallyoccupies the position indicated in Fig. 1, in which position the clutchteeth I! which are to a second sleeveor shell 46 having an inwardlyturned rim 41 secured to a driving member" 48 by suitable means such asthat represented at 49, the said driving means 48 being a part integralwith or operatively connected to the armature or rotor of theelectricmotor indicated dia- .5 is provided for in the form ofs'plines 53 on theshaft 5 engageable with corresponding splines on the inner surface ofthe sleeve 43, theouter surface thereof being threaded to receive a nut55 v which constitutes a means for adjusting the pres-- sure of springs58'and hence the torque trans- ,mitting capacity of the clutch 44. Oneend of the solenoid winding I3 is shown grounded to the a frame of themotor at 66 'in Fig. 1, and this ground connection is correspondinglydesignated in the diagram constituting'Figure 2, the opposite'en'd ofthe winding being indicated in Fig.2 as connecting tolone terminal post61 of a switch incircuit with a battery 59 constituting the source ofcurrent'for-the electric motor 5|.

The latter 'is preferably provided with four mass as indicated in Fig. 2and separate the shaft time gear at; turn the gear l4 and henceythedriven shaft I. The shafts [and] 25 windings II and]! one of which isenergized to i produce clockwise rotation ofthe motor in one position ofswitch ii, and, Y e other of which is energized to produce couircloclrwise rotation 6 01' the motor in the opposite 'position'oi theswitch, said switch ,beingconnected with the I source I as indicatedatl3. Preferablyswitch ll is in a pilotcircuit to relays 89 and 39 whichin turn control switches II and 92, respectivelyjj I ,,through which themain current for the motor is caused to flow, the flow of current tothesolenoid- It b ing brought about by either one or the otherof thebridging elements 93 and 94, 'depending uponwhich of the solenoids or 90is energined. In other words, the energization of the motor [I in eithera clockwise or counterclock- 1 wise direction results in a concurrentenergize.-

-tion of the solenoid l3 and hence in a closure of the clutch II, II. Inthe event, however, that-it 20 isdesired-to dispense with electricaloperation,

' driven member 8 may be actuated manually or;

brother. non-electrical "mea s, acting through disconnect as aboveindicated whereby the gearll arms to turn without interferencefrom'thet'" "stationary shaft I.During motor actuation,

however-that is when the shaft 5 is eifective asthe driving means forthe shaft l- -the shaft 5 and the parts associated therewith will beturned by-reason ofthe condition of permanent mesh as not only acts toprotect the motor in the event of an overload but also enables the motorto overrun the shaft 8 as soon as the landing gear, or other limitedstroke" load, reaches the end of its travel, and eventhough the teeth I!and I.

remain engaged (due to tardiness in the deenergiza'tion of coil M or forany other reason).

This application is a division of my application No. 50,229 filedNovember 16, 1935, now Patent No. 2,134,032, grantedDecember 19, 1939.

- Wh'atI claim is:

--A landing gear drive including a motor, normally disengaged clutch andlanding gear actuating' shaft, manually operable means for (3813',

mg energization of said-motor at will, means shittable'to engage said"clutchra common source ofenergy for saidmotor and clutch engagingnieans,"means for" enabling said motorqto overrun 'said' clutch as soonas the landing, gear actu- "ating shaft encounters excessive "resistanceto furtherrotation, and manually operable means rotatable with saidlanding gear actuating shaft, to operate the latter independently ofsaid first-s named energy source. Y

JOSEPH w. ALLEN.

